SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THE GRAND CANYON
AUTHOR: Lois Olive Gray
PHOTOS: None – Before Kay had a digital camera For later trip photos, visit: KayGilmour.Smugmug.Com
San Diego Saunter
Travelers: Kay Gilmour, Lois Gray, Sharon Feldkamp, & Betsy Raiford
February 25 to March 5, 1983
This eagerly anticipated trip started with sadness: Betsy had to put her sweet little dog Misty down on the day we were scheduled to fly. Misty had been failing slowly, but on that fateful day, it was clear that she was not going to improve and was indeed suffering. Not a happy way to start on what was supposed to be a fun trip, but we overcame the depressed feelings and went on to enjoy our visit to some California sights and even included our first visit to the Grand Canyon. Such a lot to see in a very short time.
So, let’s begin a day-by-day description.
Day One - SAN DIEGO
Mainly a flying day from Jax to Dallas and then on to San Diego. Wonder of wonders, now I remember that we were fed meals (for free) on both flights. Who gets any food on a flight today without paying dearly for it? We picked up the rental car (I don’t remember what kind or from what company). We had no reservations in San Diego, so we stopped at the first cheap-looking motel we came across: The El Rio cost only $32 for the four of us. But we soon learned that the price was way too much.
No A/C and it was hot in Southern California. We quickly realized that this motel catered to couples who just wanted an hour or so for an assignation. Therefore, we heard high heels clicking down the hallway with doors opening and closing constantly through the night. Lots of sailors kept lumbering down the concrete hall too. No telling what the receptionist thought the four of us were up to. Even though we were all tired from the traveling day, we got only fitful sleep and were awake at 5 a.m. I’m writing this diary today, 10/27/2023, I checked and learned that El Rio is no longer open for business of any kind. Not surprising.
Day Two
Also not surprising, we were up and out of that place as soon as Betsy and Sharon had gotten their required cup of coffee in the lobby. Then all of us went to the Village Inn for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Then we drove around downtown trying to get our bearings. Balboa Park was closed for a race, so we continued exploring, seeing the Bay and the amazing bridge.
We then parked the car and took a bus tour of the area at 9:30. The famous San Diego Zoo was first on our list of “must sees” and it met our every expectation. So many wonderful animals on display: koala bears, tree kangaroos, Siberian tigers sparring playfully, aardvarks and the usual suspects in any good zoo. Our big plus sighting at the Zoo was a very unexpected mammal: His Royal Highness, Prince Phillip, consort to Queen Elizabeth II He was exploring the Zoo with a retinue of military men and Zoo personnel, providing him with a personal tour. We were not allowed to get very close to the prince but near enough to see him clearly three separate times. When his tour was complete, he was picked up by helicopter to be taken away to his next destination. To use an old expression from the 60s, it was a gas to see him in person.
After leaving the famed zoo, we drove to Sunset Cliffs for the panoramic overlooks of the area. Simply Splendid. Too bad that none of the many photos taken that evening survived to document our experience. Next on our agenda was food. We went to Nati’s Mexican Restaurant nearby and had a really good feast, with especially memorable chips and dips. What a surprise when I checked today (11/10/23) to find that Nati’s still exists and is called one of San Diego’s five best Mexican eateries
After dinner, we went to the first Rodeo any of us had ever seen. It was mildly entertaining, but the woman singer was so bad that she ruined the whole evening for us. We got back to El Rio around midnight, and it was a quieter night. However, I can hardly believe my own notes proving that we stayed there two nights.
Day Three
We were up early again; no alarm clock required, and returned to Village Inn for breakfast. We learned on TV that the royal Yacht Brittania was docked nearly so naturally we drove over for a look at it. Wonder of wonders, we arrived at the precisely correct time. We saw Queen Elizabeth disembark from the ship down the gangplank and then got a better look at her as she boarded a limousine to head out for church. She gave all of us lined up on the dock a royal wave and rewarded our patience. Then we watched the HMS Royal Yacht sail rapidly out to sea. We learned then that the royals were flying to Palm Springs after services and then would catch up to the yacht somewhere along the California coast.
Following our brief royal encounters, we drove to Point Loma and Cabrillo National Monument, the reputed point where California was first seen by European explorers. Rain fell heavily on us as we headed for the airport in Fresno. Our flights would be two hops and we would end up in LA in 2 hours. A big storm was predicted, and we all hoped it wouldn’t interfere with our flights and it did not!
Day Four - FRESNO
We checked out a little bit of Fresno and found it to be dry but still farming country mostly. It is the Home Base for visiting Kings Canyon National Park as well as Yosemite. We hiked a little in Kings Canyon to see the sequoias but skipped Yosemite since we had been there recently. We had awakened to drizzling rain, so we mostly drove around hoping to escape the weather, so we It was fun to see the General Sherman tree looking more like a snowman than a giant tree, We did see the amazing array of foodstuffs grown in this mostly desert-looking terrain: plums, peaches, table grapes, wine grapes, nectarines, almonds, date palms, walnuts and citrus fruit like limes and lemons.
Snow was still threatening, so we decided to leave the high altitudes and go down into Bakersfield for the night. We all wanted to watch “Mash” as well as get some washing done and we did not want to drive in a heavy snowstorm.
Day 5 - FLOODS AND LAS VEGAS
Here we were supposed to be in the southern California Desert and yet there was water standing everywhere. We left Bakersfield at 6:30 am in a driving rainstorm which had actually started about 8 p.m. last night and continued heavily through the night. It quickly became obvious that the desert was getting more water than it could handle. We saw lots of flooding and damage as well. The drive from Bakersfield toward the Mojave was nerve-racking, but from Mojave towards Death Valley it became downright scary. The roads were washing out and there were deep dips in the road that made us fear that we would have a car drown-out if we kept on going.
After six tense hours, we turned back and retraced our route which was even more treacherous because of ever deeper and wider washouts. We were all so relieved when we finally made it safely to Barstow and the four-lane highway. Then it was another 3 hours without stress to reach Las Vegas.
We went to the buffet at Caesar’s Palace for supper (and we were hungry and ate our fill for $3.49 a piece. Gambled $2.20 at the Dunes Casino (which doesn’t exist anymore) and at Circus Circus for a bit more. Nobody won anything worth mentioning. Stayed the night at the Airport Inn and it wasn’t expensive at all. And as of this writing, the Dunes was razed in 1993 and replaced by the Bellagio.
Day Six – HOOVER DAM AND GRAND CANYON
Arose early for breakfast at The Flamingo. Interesting aside about this casino. It was the third to open on the Strip and it still is the oldest in operation today (2023) and the last one remaining that opened before 1950. I wonder what it looks like now.
After breakfast, we went to Hoover Dam for the tour. It was very interesting to be inside the dam and learn how it works. However, our tour was not as long as advertised because of some sort of change of shifts in the guides. But that was okay because we had all our questions answered.
We had a 4 ½ hour drive to reach the Grand Canyon where our hike would begin, so didn’t mind getting an earlier than expected start on the ride. We arrived in time to get views of lots of the many overlooks and to have supper at the Bright Angel
Lodge: chicken chasseur and veal fricassee with a nice white wine (unusual for us non-drinkers but a good accompaniment to our dinner).
What we didn’t want to talk or think about was the continuous rain that kept falling all day. When we left the Lodge for our cabin, it was only drizzling so we had hope. Once in the cabin, we couldn’t find the bathroom at first and we had a lot of laughs over that which helped delay our fit of nerves thinking about tomorrow’s test. We arranged and rearranged all our gear for the hike and fought down the impulse to talk about the challenge.
Day 7 – HIKING THE CANYON - DOWN
Up early after an anxious night and off to our many errands: stashing luggage at the Tovar Hotel and getting our prepackaged lunches there, then back to Bright Angel for a very tense and edgy breakfast, then to Transport Desk to arrange our ride to the Kaibab Trail Head at 9:15 a.m.
The hike started shortly thereafter and we at first walked through light rain with ice on the trail in some spots and lots of mud in other places. Despite the continuing rain and overcast skies, the views of the Canyon from the trail were spectacular. We could clearly see the geologic layering of many different depositions of rock, sand, mud over millennia of time.
We had studied the layers and were familiar with their names, like the bottom most layer, Vishnu Schist to the topmost layer, Kaibab Limestone. These layers testify to the immense time scale revealed in the Grand Canyon. The walk down to the Phantom Ranch took us 6 ½ hours, but even though it was very steep, we did stop many times along the trail to examine rocks and look out for critters. We did remember not to put our hands into crevices and holes in the rocks since we knew that very poisonous scorpions often lived in them when they were not out hunting. When we reached the ranch, we checked into our cabin and rested until 6:00 p.m. when supper was served. The meal was a beef stew with cornbread, salad and vanilla cake for dessert. A hearty meal to ready us for our hike back up to the top of the canyon.
On the way down, we had seen wild turkey, some mule deer, and squirrels and many kinds of birds. After supper, we played gin rummy for a while and then went
to the cabin and fell into bed. No showers for us, we were too tired. In truth, we were all happy with how we had fared on the down half of our trip, but we knew that the more difficult part, the 4,400 ft. climb out of the canyon would be much tougher.
Day 8 - HIKING THE CANYON - UP
Up early again today at 6:30 so we wouldn’t miss our 7;00 AM breakfast at the Ranch. They fueled us up again with bacon, eggs, pancakes and orange juice. We got our packed lunch too and went to the cabin to pack up and head out to Ribbon Falls. It was still cloudy and rainy but that did not ruin the wonderful views of the gorge. At ll:00 AM., we still didn’t know exactly where we were and decided we didn’t care about Ribbon Falls. Sharon turned around and headed for the Ranch so we could get our bearings. Kay, Betsy and I started back later and really hustled to rejoin Sharon at the Ranch.
We took some pictures, rested a bit and then headed for the Colorado River where the trail flattened out until we reached the Devil’s Back Bone where the steep hike began with lots of switchbacks. Nonetheless, we made it to Indian Springs in 2 ½ hours. I must have told Sharon the plots of every Shakespeare play to keep her moving, as well as the history of my father’s family. I gave her an M&M candy at every turn of the switchbacks to encourage her as well. After a rest and potty break, we entered the most difficult part of the return and didn't stop till we reached 3 mile house. There we had lunch and started out again. We thought 2 ½ mile house would never appear before us, but we finally reached it after many moans and groans. Three of us got to the top at 4:00 PM but Betsy beat us all as she raced up the hills and made it back at 2:45. She got to rest while she waited for the rest of us.
We checked out the overviews again and saw our trail and realized that we had actually completed the damn thing. Then we drove to Williams, AZ, to spend the night in a nice and inexpensive motel. I We packed up in the morning and drove to the airport the next morning for our return to Jacksonville.
It was thrilling adventure starting in San Diego and ending with the magnificent Grand Canyon Hike.
